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Swip looks safe as merger with London rival is dropped

The Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (Swip) has a reprieve after Lloyds Banking Group scrapped plans to merge it with Insight Investment, its London-based rival.

In early March the group's future was uncertain as Lloyds looked to amalgamate the companies and possibly switch all 400 jobs to the English capital.

The move, the cornerstone of which was the appointment of Insight's chief executive Abdallah Nauphal as boss of both Swip and Insight, was received badly in Edinburgh. One Swip insider said: "Dean Buckley has had a spring in his step since it became apparent the integration was off."

The change of plan follows the sale of Barclays Global Investors. Lloyds and its advisers Deutsche Bank are now more confident about finding an external buyer for Insight.